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1.
Objectives:
To understand that carbon cycles from one form to another and the role that forests play in this process. stored.
ocus:
Establish the basic carbon cycle
Why is carbon important? It is the basic building block of nearly all molecules that make up living organisms. It is in sugars, DNA, proteins, fats... etc. Carbon is in most things around us; people, plants, trees, soil, oceans, and even the air we breathe. There is only a certain amount of carbon in, on, and around the Earth. The total amount of carbon stays the same, it just changes from one form to another. This is called a cycle. The Carbon Cycle is the movement of carbon, in its many forms, between the biosphere (all of the Earths living organisms), atmosphere (the gaseous envelope surrounding the Earth), hydrosphere (the Earths supply of water), and geosphere (the solid part of the Earth).
2. To understand where and how carbon is 3. To understand how forests can play a role in
offsetting climate change.
Subjects:
1. All living plants and animals 2. The gas surrounding the Earth 3. Water 4. Soil and rocks
Show students the graphic of the Carbon Cycle. Point out that there are really only a few main pieces to the carbon cycle:
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Vocabulary
1. Atmosphere: the gaseous envelope surrounding
the Earth.
greenhouse. Greenhouse gases, such as CO2 (carbon dioxide), methane, and ozone, insulate and warm the Earths surface. Without the Greenhouse Effect, life on Earth, as we know it, would not be possible and there would be no liquid water on the Earth. The greenhouse effect may be enhanced by increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere thus causing a greater warming of the Earths surface temperatures (Global Warming).
V O C
U L
Name_____________
Instruct students to work with a partner to identify carbon sinks and carbon sources. How could carbon enter a sink? How could that carbon be released or emitted from that sink to become a carbon source?
Using public transportation, riding a bike or walking when possible rather than driving a car. Manage forests to grow healthy trees because healthy trees store more carbon. Recycling materials that can be recycled. Manage forests to prevent large forest fires that release a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. Use renewable energy sources and support development of new renewable energy sources such as biomass energy. Decrease use of fossil fuels which release high levels of carbon into the atmosphere. Reduce the amount of trash that the family produces. Conserving electricity and heating fuels. Use energy-efficient appliances and turn them off when not in use. Use energy-efficient bulbs. Set house temperatures lower in the winter and higher in the summer. Use renewable resources which generally release less carbon than nonrenewable resources. Now show students the graphic: Forestry Never Looked So Cool to explore how forests can play a very important role in reducing our carbon footprints. Read the excerpt by Patrick Moore, Ph.D. as a class to help understand the graphic and to facilitate discussion on forestrys role in mitigating climate change.
Discuss class results. What activities seem to heavily impact the carbon footprints? Instruct students to work with a partner to come up with a list of ways to reduce their carbon footprints. Plant trees to help store more carbon. Use wood products that store carbon from sustainably managed forests.
Photo used with permission by Greenspirit Strategies Ltd.
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The concepts in The Carbon Cycle: Forestry Never Looked So Cool graphic are well summarized in the following excerpt by Patrick Moore, Ph.D. in the Winter 2006 edition of California Forests. Trees are the most powerful concentrators of carbon on Earth. Through photosynthesis, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in their wood, which is nearly 50 percent carbon by weight. The relationship between trees and greenhouse gases is simple enough on the surface. Trees grow by taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, through photosynthesis, converting it into sugars. The sugars are then used as energy and material to build the cellulose and lignin that are the main constituents of wood. When a tree rots or burns the carbon contained in the wood is released back to the atmosphere. Active forest management, such as thinning, removing dead trees, and clearing debris from the forest floor is very effective in reducing the number and intensity of forest fires. And the wood that is removed can be put to good use for lumber, paper and energy. The impact of forests on the global carbon cycle can be boiled down to these key points: On the negative side, the most important factor influencing the carbon cycle is deforestation which results in a permanent loss of forest cover and a large release of CO2 into the atmosphere. Deforestationwhich occurs primarily in tropical countries where forests are permanently cleared and converted to agriculture and urban settlement is responsible for about 20 percent of global CO2 emissions.
On the positive side, planting fast-growing trees is the best way to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Many countries with temperate forest have seen an increase in carbon stored in trees in recent years. This includes New Zealand, the United States, Sweden and Canada. Plus, using wood sustainably reduces the need for non-renewable fossil fuels and materials such as steel and concrete the very causes of CO2 emissions in the first place.
The good news is that forests in the United States are net carbon sinks, since annual growth exceeds annual harvest. We are currently experiencing an increase in forested land as forests are being reestablished on land previously used for agriculture. Catastrophic wildfires are uncommon in managed forests, whereas millions of acres of unmanaged forests burn every year due to excessive build-up of dead trees and woody debris. Every wood substitute, including steel, plastic and cement, requires far more energy to produce than lumber. More energy usually translates into more greenhouse gases in the form of fossil fuel consumption or cement production. One of the best ways to address climate change is to use more wood, not less. Wood is simply the most abundant, biodegradable and renewable material on the planet.
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combine and are released into the atmosphere as oxygen gas. Carbon dioxide enters through the leaf stomata and goes through changes so the plant can build a large structure of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen called glucose = food and energy for the plant!)
O=C=O
Carbon Dioxide
As a class, make a list on the board that outlines forest management activities that increase carbon sequestration and reduce carbon emissions. Note that forests in the United States sequester 10 percent of all U.S. carbon emissions. Now have your class come up with ideas to increase carbon sequestration by our forests. The following site from the American Forest Foundation will be very helpful in this task:
http://www.forestfoundation.org/ccs_carbon.html
Glucose
O-H-O
Water
Instructions: Choose one color of marshmallow to represent each of the following elements: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen. Use toothpicks to bond the elements together properly. A dash indicates a single bond (one toothpick) and an equal sign indicates a double bond (two toothpicks). Make one carbon dioxide molecule and one glucose molecule to show how carbon changes as a result of photosynthesis.
Reinforcement Ideas:
Download the Carbon Fingerprints Game from The Forest Foundation Website
http://www.calforestfoundation.org/pdf/ Forests-and-the-Carbon-Cycle.pdf (Page E1)
(During photosynthesis, water inside the leaf of the plant is stripped of its hydrogen the two oxygen atoms
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